Reflection
Manage Your Energy Using Nature’s Intelligence
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” ~Albert Einstein Tweet
Read MoreCareer Coaching 3-Part Series (Part 3): Bouncing Back From Major Life Changes
“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” ~Joseph Campbell Tweet
Read MoreGet Unstuck and Get Going on What Matters
“I want to put a ding in the universe.” ~Steve Jobs Tweet
Read MoreAre Leaders Who Lead with Positivity Pollyannas?
“Every exemplary leader that I have met, has what seems to be an unwarranted degree of optimism – and that helps generate the energy and commitment necessary to achieve results.” ~Warren Bennis
This was a question that a group of thoughtful and reflective nonprofit leaders grappled with at the first “Courageous Conversations Alumni Forum” of the Courage to Lead training program for nonprofit leaders. I was honored to facilitate what was indeed a “courageous conversation.” Sigrid Wright, an executive with the Santa Barbara nonprofit, Community Environmental Council (CEC), wrote her reflections of that day, which are reprinted here with her permission and with the permission of Courage to Lead. — Dr. Lynn K. Jones, Certified Personal and Executive Coach
Read MoreA Remembrance on 9/10/11– Gaden Jangtse Buddhist are Emissaries of Peace
A Remembrance on 9/10/11– Gaden Jangtse Buddhist are Emissaries of Peace“Don’t get too attached, even to the most beautiful things.” ~ Rinpoche
My mind keeps drifting to the events of 10 years ago. On 9/10/01, we had no idea what was to come in just a few hours; that the world as we know it would be literally turned upside down. Those structures, they were the very epitome of substance. They were built to be solid and were here to stay. We were shook to our foundations when they came down to theirs.
Read MoreWhy You SHOULD Take a Vacation
Are you taking a vacation this summer? No, I just have too much going on at work; I can’t afford it right now: I wish I was, but I just can’t swing it. Those are comments that I hear a lot from my clients. The perils of NOT taking a vacation have been well documented. Dealing with stress and burnout top the list. If I told you that I had a way for you to jumpstart your business, that you would discover ways to break the grind that you are in, and that you will come up with new creative business solutions, would you be interested? If you are like my clients, you would be willing to listen at least. And you probably have already figured out that taking a vacation is the secret.
Read MoreUnpack That Heavy Baggage
The Santa Barbara Independent columnist Starshine Roshell, author of Wife on the Edge, wrote a Fathers’ Day piece about that painful but ultimately rewarding process. I reprint, Lost: One Father Remembering the Man Who Made Her Write with her permission. It’s so clear and so powerful that I have no comment to add. Starshine says it all.
Read MoreUnderstand Yourself, Understand Others
Understand Yourself, Understand Others. It is exciting to learn what strengths do collectively as a team and how to leverage these strengths as a group.
Read MoreAppreciative Inquiry: You’re Great, We’re All Great.
The psychologists point to the love songs young people sing to themselves today. Instead of “we” and “us” the lyrics are studded with “I” and “me”, as in “I’m bringing sexy back” and “It’s blazin’, you watch me in amazement.” This raises a red flag: a self-centered attitude and narcissism blunts effective emotional intelligence and can get in the way of great performance.
Read MoreCourage: A Bi-Product of Self-Care
So why is taking care of ourselves good for the Earth? Because we are all socially interconnected, when we feel better, others around us feel better too. Like throwing a stone into a pond, good feeling ripples outward and impacts those around us–in our families, our workplaces and our communities.
Read More